Whether you believe it or not, your words can have a huge impact on someone’s life. Sometimes we tend to forget how the negative comments we make can hurt someone’s self-esteem and confidence. Just because someone looks different from the normal standard of beauty doesn’t make them any less of a person. Judging someone’s outer beauty will stop you from seeing their inner beauty, which is much more important.
All the ads and commercials that young girls are exposed to give the idea that we all need to be flawless, to be beautiful. Ads aren’t the only things that influence a person’s body image; negative comments from family or classmates can contribute too. All these things can have a huge impact on the way young girls feel about their physical appearance.
A negative body image can lead to low self-esteem, which can start affecting a person’s daily life. It may be harder to make friends or feel comfortable around new people. Overall, it is harder to enjoy life when you’re worrying about what everyone else thinks about you.
It’s important to remember that you are only human, instead of thinking that you have to be perfect. It’s also important to remember that someone’s personality is much more important then their physical appearance. The truth is that your flaws are what make you unique and different from everyone else in the world, so no one can tell you what the definition of beauty is, That’s completely up to you.
Abby Gomez De La Casa • Oct 14, 2011 at 1:24 pm
People should think twice about what they say when they are talking badly about someone. Negative comments, whether they are meant to be playful or hurtful, can influence the way a person feels about themselves and you may not even know it. As said in “Don’t Be Defined by Your Body Image” by Renee Miedlar, on May 9th, 2011, “Ads aren’t the only things that influence a person’s body image; negative comments from family or classmates can contribute too.” Personally, I am a very lighthearted person so I can take jokes pretty well, but if someone has offended me or made me feel bad, I’m not one to show it. Some people show it more than others when they are hurt, but some people are like me where they would never tell you or give any sign that something is bothering them, when in fact they are hurting inside. Your comments can offend someone without you even knowing it, and whether or not that person seems offended doesn’t matter because the exterior tends to always be deceiving. So next time you decide to make a comment towards someone that may be the slightest bit offensive, think twice because you never know if you are really offending that person.I agree with the general idea of the argument that body image is something that is fragile and can easily be shaped by the media, competition, and negative commentary. However, when Renee states, “The truth is that your flaws are what make you unique and different from everyone else in the world, so no one can tell you what the definition of beauty is, that’s completely up to you,” I have to disagree with a portion of this statement. It’s great to have self-confidence and love yourself completely, but sometimes over loving yourself can lead to a little something called arrogance. Flaws are called flaws for a reason, everyone has them, but not all flaws are something you should be proud of and enhance. Some flaws need improvement or work on them, whereas other flaws are confused with aspects that aren’t flaws such as, one ear lobe is .2 inches longer than the other or something silly like that. I know a flaw I have is being paranoid, that doesn’t make me “unique and different from everyone else in the world” with a positive connotation; that makes me stressed out, worried, over analytical and a lot of other things that are not good. So that flaw is something that I work on and tone it down, paranoia is not something to be enhanced. However, my deaf ear is not a flaw, it’s something that doesn’t work properly in my body but it’s not something I need to work on or that brings out the bad aspects of me. Flaws are not all “unique” in a good aspect, and flaw is not the proper word to use towards miniscule “imperfections” with someone’s body.
stephany! • May 24, 2011 at 5:47 pm
i feel ya renee all this things are beautiful YOU ARE MY HERO <3 keep shinning!